We only have a few months until we see the John Wick franchise expand even more with the spin-off film Ballerina starring Ana de Armas and Winston himself has spoken about what fans may expect from the film.
Ballerina follows de Armas’ Rooney, one of the ballerinas trained by Angelica Huston’s Director at the school seen in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The story will see Rooney on a quest for vengeance against the people who murdered her family.
In an interview with Collider, Ian McShane, who has starred in all four of the John Wick films, spoke about the process behind the film and working with de Armas and director Len Wiseman for the first time, revealing when exactly Ballerina takes place in the John Wick continuity as well as how Winston, Chiron, played by the late Lance Reddick, and John figure into the story.
“This time we’re protecting Ana de Armas, and I had my great friend, Mr. Lance Reddick. God bless you, Lance — he passed away last year,” McShane said. “This one is set in between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4, because Keanu [Reeves] is in it, too. You didn’t want to set it after John Wick 4, because then you’d have social media saying, ‘Oh, so he’s still alive! What’s he going to do next time? Is there a John Wick 5?!’ This way, you can still keep up the pretense that there might not be a John Wick 5.
“But Lance and I bring our usual protection towards Ms. de Armas. And Len I found a delight to work for. Again, we worked out the script beforehand, so there was no wasted time. They tend to make me sound a bit like an English dictionary sometimes on John Wick. They’re great writers — Michael [Finch] and Shay [Hatten] on those. We go through it, I check with them, and we cut it down to whatever. Len had conferred with Chad [Stahelski], so I think there’s a continuity from the other Wick movies. So it should be very enjoyable. [Ana] was lovely to work with. I think Gabriel Byrne plays the chief villain, so there’s a good actor for you.”
Starring alongside de Armas and McShane in Ballerina is John Wick veterans Anjelica Huston and Lance Reddick with Keanu Reeves making a brief appearance as the franchise hero. Newcomers include Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (From).
SEE ALSO: Ian McShane slams The Continental as a “cash in”, has “no intention” of watching John Wick spin-off
Ballerina is directed by Underworld director Len Wiseman from a script written by Michael Finch and Shay Hatten. It marks the first feature film spin-off of John Wick following the prequel miniseries The Continental. Other spin-offs are in development and the team have teased a potential John Wick: Chapter 5, though how that could work given John’s fate at the end of the fourth film is anyone’s guess.
Ballerina will be released on June 7th, 2024.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
